General Issues on Web Information Systems Development

In recent literature, many authors argue that quot;Web developmentquot; is new and different. The arguments are, however, both debatable and debated, and often it is neither clear what is meant by Web development, nor what it is supposed to be different from. Often-suggested special characteristics of Web development do not seem special after all. The Web information space is rapidly growing in the size and the diversity of both its data and its audience. A consequence is that Web Information Systems (WIS) in many applications replace existing traditional (not Web based) information systems. Since the nature of WIS differs from the nature of traditional information systems there is a strong demand for design methodologies specifically oriented towards WIS design. The complexity of WIS implies the need for an effective design process and a rigorous and systematic design approach